Social Action: WRJ Advocacy and Programming

March 4, 2010

Aid Earthquake Victims
The Joint Distribution Committee Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief (JCDR) has convened a coalition to assist the victims of the massive earthquake in Chile. Donations to JCDR Chile Earthquake Relief can be made at https://www.jdc.org/donation/donate.aspx?type=JCDR.
 
The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society tells us that although visas to come to the United States have been approved for approximately 55,000 Haitian family members of U.S. citizens and legal immigrants, because of family reunification visa annual limits, they must wait in Haiti for years for available visas. Humanitarian parole would allow them to join their families and wait for their visa here in the U.S., rather than in Haiti. Please click on the following link to ask Secretary Napolitano to reunite Haitian families through humanitarian parole.
 
Restoring Dignity:  Women of Faith Leadership Summit
Earlier this week, on March 1-2, 2010, Religions for Peace (RfP) held the exciting Restoring Dignity: Women of Faith Leadership Summit, at which its North American Women of Faith Network was launched. The summit mobilized multi-religious action to confront violence and advance human dignity, a network initiative. Other initiatives are developing young women leaders, as well as addressing maternal health concerns and HIV/AIDS.
 
A panel on religious teachings and violence against women was keynoted by the Rev. Dr. Marie Fortune, founder of the Faith Trust Institute, which provides multi-religious and multicultural resources to help break the cycle of family violence.  She spoke of the prevalence of abuse against women in our religious communities and how their patriarchal perspectives and power structures have contributed to its incidence.
 
WRJ credited with initial breakthrough:
Rabbi Zari Weiss, from the Women’s Rabbinic Network, spoke about our movement’s resolutions and efforts to end domestic violence and abuse of women in the 1990s and said that WRJ had initiated these efforts with our 1983 resolution on domestic violence. 

Following the meeting, Janet Stovin, WRJ’s delegate to Non-Governmental Organization/ Department of Public Information at the U.N. noted that one of the goals of the network is encourage religious feminists to work within their own communities and across faith lines to deal with violence against women and the other network initiatives and to urge women clergy give them visibility from the pulpit. Janet said “the summit revealed that we need to demonstrate the power and strength of women of faith and to emphasize that we are stronger together."
 
Women, Faith & Development Alliance: WRJ Praised
At the Tuesday afternoon Women, Faith & Development Alliance (WFDA), working session, panelists presented an overview, activities, and achievements of the ninety partners (including WRJ) of the alliance. One panelist, Dr. Yaser Haddara, chairman of the board of directors, Islamic Relief, in discussing WFDA advocacy efforts singled out WRJ advocacy in behalf of women and girls around the world. Constance Kreshtool and Judith M. Hertz, former WRJ presidents were in attendance and were surprised and gratified by his comments.
 
Next week: What can your sisterhood do to address violence against women in your community, North America, and the world? Program ideas, resources, advocacy, and links for like-minded organizations will be provided next week.

February 24, 2010

Rally, March, and Conference Call for Immigration Reform
Save the date, if you can, to come to Washington on March 21, 2010 to march for comprehensive immigration reform. You are invited to be part of an event, called March for America: Change Takes Courage and Faith.
 
The day will begin with an informational Jewish bagel brunch from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at which the “We Were Strangers, Too” campaign (in which WRJ participates) will be discussed.  The brunch will be followed by an interfaith prayer service for immigration reform from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. 

The group will then rally with other immigration advocates on the National Mall.  To register for the march and rally, visit: www.changetakesfaith.org.
 
The sponsors of “We Were Strangers, Too: The Jewish Campaign for Immigration Reform” are organizing a national grassroots conference call following the rally for the entire Jewish community. It will be held at 7 p.m. EST.  Participants will be able to hear about the DC rally, get a legislative update from Jewish members of Congress (tentative), and hear talking points for a national call-in day to Congress on March 22. This is a great opportunity for those who cannot participate in the march.
 
Full details will be sent as soon as they are available.
 
WRJ Leader Advocates Immigration Reform
On Wednesday, February 18, 2010, Joanne Goldsmith, a WRJ board member, had the opportunity to join her rabbi for a visit to Senator Ben Cardin's office, along with Stephanie Grosser, Assistant Director of the Washington Office of The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, and representatives of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and the American Jewish Committee. They met with one of Senator Cardin's staff members, Andrew Remo, Legislative Correspondent. Joanne said “we were there to discuss immigration reform with emphasis on the family and asked that Senator Cardin sign on as a co-sponsor of the Reuniting Families Act (S.1085).  WRJ has signed a letter of support for this legislation as one of 17 national Jewish organizations, so I introduced myself as a member of WRJ.”
 
Celebrate International Women’s Day – See the Film Half the Sky
In her installation speech at the 47th WRJ assembly, WRJ president Lynn Magid Lazar spoke of the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as essential to understanding the plight of women world wide and why women’s activism is essential. A film made about this book will be shown for one night on Thursday, March 4, in several theaters around the North America.
 
For information about the film, a trailer, and where it will be shown go to http://www.ncm.com/Fathom/OriginalPrograms/event/Half_The_Sky.aspx?gclid=CIH61fvliKACFctY2godIScmkA.
 
We urge sisterhoods to see the film if it is available in their communities or, if not,  to select the book Half the Sky for a discussion in the coming months. Go to http://www.halftheskymovement.org/ for information about this important and fascinating book.

The book, which was published in September 2009, focuses on discrimination, violence against women, maternal mortality, and poverty.  Kristof and WuDunn call for empowering women as the key to combating poverty and enabling sustainable community development in the poor nations of the world.

February 18, 2010

Women Helping Impoverished Jewish Mothers

Susan C. Bass (Beth Israel, Houston, TX), WRJ vice president, writes: "During our recent visit to Buenos Aires, my husband, Jerry, and I visited Fundacion Tzedaka, which is housed with NCI Emanuel Synagogue (a WUPJ congregation).  This agency focuses on families, providing clothes, medications and eye glasses to needy Jews.  The day we visited, a local, successful optician was there, doing eye exams, fitting frames and grinding lenses (all donated by his vendors).   A large part of the agency’s mission is to help people get back on their feet.  To that end, they work with people to develop skills for the work force, counsel them, and even tutor them, if necessary. Truly, this agency sees the value and potential of "woman-power!"

 
The mission of Fundacion Tzedaka is to help 9000 impoverished members of the Argentine Jewish community. Visit its website, www.tzedaka.org.ar/en, for details. The agency is beginning a new initiative dealing with women working together to help other women.
 
Fundacion Tzedaka is coordinating women’s gatherings in cities across the world to celebrate International Women’s Day, March 8th, by helping other women live with dignity. WRJ has been invited to join this mission. The agency proposes small gatherings in women’s homes with the goal of helping Jewish women in Argentina who are single mothers with unstable low-paying jobs and no medical insurance.
 
We suggest that sisterhoods set up informal gatherings, inviting members for tea, breakfast, lunch, or even a casual get-together at the temple, using materials supplied by Fundacion Tzedaka.  Although it would be good to host a get-together on International Women’s day, an event at another time to help impoverished Argentine Jewish women live with dignity would be a meaningful addition to your sisterhood program.
 
Fundacion Tzedaka sends the hosts or leaders of events program e-mail resources including: invitation cards, a power point presentation about a few of the 205 single mothers who are part of this program, flyers, and additional materials. (One woman’s story is attached to this e-mail.) To sign-up to host an event and for information about holding events, go to: http://www.tzedaka.org.ar/newsletter/MinisitioAmigos-ingles/index.html.
 
National Medical Marijuana Week: Support the Truth in Trials Act
One in four Americans now lives in a state with laws permitting and governing medical marijuana. Unfortunately, law-abiding citizens can still be prosecuted on federal marijuana-related charges. The "Truth in Trials" Act, H.R. 3939, would enable federal defendants to present evidence showing that they were following state medical marijuana laws.
 
Click on http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org/truthintrials to indicate your support of the “Truth in Trials Act.”
 
Women in the Administration’s FY2011 Budget Request
Unprecedented steps were taken to improve the impact of international and domestic programs on women and girls in the president’s 2011 budget request. Women Thrive Worldwide has prepared an analysis of the FY2011 budget request, which is attached. Read the two page overview (pp.1-2) for a quick analysis and the rest if you have the time.

February 11, 2010

Jobs and Unemployment Insurance Extension Needed

Unemployment insurance benefits will expire next month for 1.2 million jobless workers and the number jumps to 5 million by June. A bill to extend benefits has been passed by the House of Representatives as part of a jobs bill, but the Senate has yet to do so. Urge your senators to pass a jobs bill that works for woman and extend unemployment insurance benefits.

Click here to support jobs and benefits for women now.

 

Sisterhood Breast Health Programming

Sisterhoods who have held outstanding breast cancer awareness and breast health programs, which were submitted for the 2009 Or Ami awards, can provide you with excellent models to replicate or adapt for your sisterhood.

 

Let Carolyn Kunin, ckunin@wrj.org, know if you would like to contact the sisterhood women who worked on these projects or order WRJ breast self-examination shower cards for distribution at your programs.

 

Breast Cancer Awareness Program – Temple Shalom Sisterhood, Aberdeen, NJ  – Sisterhood leaders sought to improve awareness of breast cancer risk and treatment options and raise funds for breast cancer research by holding several activities during October, which is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The sisterhood held a program at which a physician spoke about breast cancer awareness (including genetic testing), diagnosis, and treatment options. The speaker discussed her decision to have a masectomy based on her mother's early death from breast cancer and genetic testing, which indicated that she had a high risk of breast cancer.  Later in the month the sisterhood distributed the WRJ breast cancer self-examination cards and raised money for research by selling sisterhood/breast cancer t-shirts and participating in a nearby community walkathon. All proceeds were donated to the American Cancer Society.

 

Breast Cancer Survivorship – Sisterhood, The Congregation Temple B'nai Jehudah, Overland Park, KS – The sisterhood participated in an educational program to introduce the community to the new concept of breast cancer survivorship and the critical issue for women of Ashkenazi-Jewish heritage who have a higher than average risk for BRCA 1 and 2 gene mutations. The sisterhood worked on this program with the sponsor, The University of Kansas Hospital Cancer Center – Breast Cancer Survivorship Center, Greater Kansas City Hadassah, Myriad Genetics Laboratories, and Back in the Swing, a nonprofit organization providing grassroots awareness, education, and fundraising on behalf of breast cancer survivors. The program provided an overview of breast cancer risk factors and cancer genetics and a personal tour of the new Breast Cancer Survivorship Center.

 

Hereditary Cancer in Jewish Families – Congregation B'nai Tzedek Sisterhood, Fountain Valley, CA – The sisterhood hosted a program to inform members of its congregation about cancers that are common in the Jewish community, such as breast, ovarian, and pancreatic cancer. This program showed how family history plays a role in cancer  risk and the availability of DNA screening, as well as prevention, diagnosis, and treatment options. The program chair got in touch with the local hospital's cancer center and invited  the coordinator of the Hereditary Cancer Program and a nurse administrator at the Hoag Cancer Center to speak.  PR included a flyer in the temple's monthly newsletter and calling every sisterhood member.

 

Prior Or Ami Award submissions included:

 

Footprints for the Cure and Race Education Day (2007) – Beth-El Congregation Sisterhood, Fort Worth, TX – The sisterhood participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, sold fabric-footprints for five dollars each, and coordinated a Race Education Day program during Sunday school to raise awareness about the fight against breast cancer and to raise money for cancer research.

 

Distribution of Spanish Language Breast Self-Examination Cards to the At-risk Population of Women in Panama (1999) – Hermandad Kol Shearit Israel Sisterhood, Panama, Republic of Panama – In cooperation the Associacion Nacional Contra El Cancer (ANCEC), the sisterhood adapted 5000 WRJ Spanish breast self-examination cards and arranged for distribution to at-risk women throughout Panama, including the Indian Territories.

 

Yachad: A Jewish Spiritual Support Group for Women with Breast or Ovarian Cancer (1997) – WRJ Sisterhood of Temple Beth-El of Great Neck, Great Neck, NY – The sisterhood developed this support group, which  differed from traditional cancer support groups in that it explored how Judaism can help women with cancer.

February 3

Call to Cancel Super Bowl Sunday Anti-Abortion Ad
This coming Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday! Many millions of people across North America will be watching the game aired by CBS, but CBS also has approved for airing an insidious anti-abortion ad, sponsored by Focus on the Family, an anti-choice conservative religious group.
 
Over the years CBS has refused to run ads which advocated progressive stands as too controversial. We need to let them know that we, as religious women object to this ad, finding it divisive and far too controversial. Click on http://capwiz.com/rcrc/issues/alert/?alertid=14609101 for more information and an e-mail letter you can send to CBS to let them know you vehemently oppose the airing of this ad.
 
Funds Urgently Needed for Haiti Emergency and Long Term Relief
Continuing charitable contributions for Haiti emergency and long term relief are urgently needed.  The United States IRS has provided that those who itemize their deductions are eligible to include charitable cash donations for humanitarian relief in Haiti, made between January 11 and March 1, 2010, as either 2009 or 2010 tax deductions. For additional details, go to the fact sheet on the IRS website: Ten Facts About Claiming Donations Made to Haiti.
 
Haiti Relief Update
Sisterhoods have inquired about the allocation of donated funds, with concern expressed, for example, about services for children. The Reform Movement has distributed funds contributed for Haiti disaster relief to the following partner relief organizations.
 
UNICEF is responding, in coordination with other agencies, to the emergency needs of women and children in Haiti. URJ funding will provide basic medical and health supplies, kitchen kits, water purification tablets, sanitation supplies, tarpaulins, and tents for temporary shelter.
 
Direct Relief International: URJ funds will underwrite an emergency response coordinator, responsible for the distribution of medical goods, site assessment for medical distribution supplies, and coordination with Partners in Health and Damian Pediatric Hospital.
 
United Nations Foundation: URJ funds will assist the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) efforts, including distribution of medical services and supplies, clean water and sanitation access, emergency shelters, food delivery, and infrastructure rehabilitation. Following the emergency relief response, CERF will add recovery and long-term reconstruction efforts.
 
American Jewish World Service (AJWS) is partnering with Haitian community-based agencies that work in communities affected by the earthquake outside of areas already targeted for large-scale relief, such as Port-au-Prince. MOSCTHA, the Socio-Cultural Movement of Haitian Workers needs funds to underwrite its mobile clinic, which provides weekly medicine and personal hygiene supplies to more than 5,000 families in rural areas that are receiving little-to-no emergency support.
 
International Rescue Committee (IRC) is collaborating with local Haitian partners to rehabilitate damaged clinics, establish mobile clinics, distribute food, water and water storage containers, and dispense basic shelter materials including sheets, blankets, hygiene items, and roofing sheets.
 
UNITED ISRAEL APPEAL CANADA/ISRA-AID: Funds from the CCRJ will go to United Israel Appeal Canada for its support of IsraAid, the coalition of Israeli NGO disaster relief specialists. Fund proceeds qualify for Canadian government matching dollars which will be allocated to Canada's Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. For more information provided by the CCRJ click on http://urj.org/socialaction/issues/relief/haiti/?syspage=article&item_id=32520.

As the need for emergency responses is reduced, the URJ allocations will fund longer-term recovery efforts. Donations are urgently needed. Donations to the Union for Reform Judaism Haiti Relief Fund can be made online or by check (note: Haiti Relief in the memo section) to:

          Union for Reform Judaism
          Attention: Development
          633 Third Avenue, 7th Floor
          New York, NY 10017

 

Note: The Union for Reform Judaism retains no overhead expenses for disaster relief donations, other than direct costs such as credit card fees.
 
Because of the need to inform you of the action needed regarding the Super Bowl Sunday ad and the need for contributions for Haiti relief, we will move the breast cancer resources to next week.

January 27

New Breast Self-Examination Shower Cards Available at WRJ

The Landsberg Zale Research Fund in Surgical Oncology, through the generosity and good offices of Gloria Landsberg, has once again provided WRJ with new breast self-examination shower cards. Order as many as you need. This is a service to sisterhoods, the only charge is for shipping.

Much controversy and confusion have surrounded breast cancer screening since the new guidelines issued on November 16, by the United States Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of experts appointed by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, recommended that regular breast cancer screening for most women begin at age fifty, not forty, as had previously been the policy. The task force indicated, however, that this recommendation does not apply to women with the possibility of a risk factor for breast cancer, such as a genetic mutation, and suggested personalized decision making, based on an informed context, regarding the starting of regular mammography screening. Ashkenazic Jewish women may have such risk factors and should discuss the age of beginning mamography with their physicians.

The American Cancer Society, ACS, has retained its policy, recommending that women over forty years of age “should have a screening mammogram every year.” The ACS website, has an informative discussion on breast cancer screening.

 

Program Suggestions for Sisterhoods

Programs are an excellent way to raise awareness and convey important information about breast and ovarian cancer. Work with your local office of the American Cancer Society or breast and ovarian cancer division at a nearby teaching hospital. Have the breast self-examination cards available for all attendees.

The Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center's (Newton, MA) Prayers for the Journey: A Jewish Healing Guide for Women with Cancer, is a useful resource for the spiritual aspect of programming.  WRJ helped to fund this sourcebook with a YES Fund grant. 

1. A panel program  – Invite speakers on various aspects of breast cancer: prevention, detection, genetic implications for Jewish women, treatment, research, or legislation. Include some of the following as speakers: breast cancer survivors, genetics counselors, physicians (radiologists, surgeons, and oncologists), nurses, specialists in public health, nutritionists, social workers, or representatives of the American Cancer Society and breast cancer coalitions.
2. A speaker on breast health – Host a speaker for a luncheon or evening program, inviting an expert on breast health.
3. A series of get-togethers for breast health – Hold intimate coffees at homes with qualified facilitators (including those listed in item 1. above) to enable women to express their concerns about breast and ovarian cancer. 
4. Workshops on breast health – Include workshops on breast health at retreats and your district’s biennial assemblies.
5. Breast health fair – Hold a fair for women in the congregation and community. Booths should cover all aspects of breast health and include the specialists listed above. If possible provide a mobile mammography unit, BSE training, and a wide variety of information.
   

Additional programming resource information to be provided next week.

January 19

Call For Religious Equality in Israel

 

Recently we’ve seen an increase of police pressure on Women of the Wall, such as the arrest of Nofrat Frenkel, a medical student, in late November, for wearing a tallit while praying at the Wall, and this month’s interrogation of Anat Hoffman, director of the Israel Religious Action Center and leader of Women of the Wall.

 

The URJ has brought together resources, including information and recommended action to enable you to respond to this important issue.

 

To learn more, join a webinar for congregational and sisterhood leaders on Thursday, January 21st, at 1:00p.m. EST. We’ll be joined by Anat Hoffman and Gilat Kariv, director of Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, who will outline the situation and explain how North American Jews can show support for Women of the Wall and for religious pluralism in Israel.

 

Because of the urgency of the situation, a brief update on URJ Haiti efforts will be included in the webinar.

 

Canadian sisterhoods, please click here for an on-line petition to Israel's ambassador to Canada regarding religious pluralism in Israel.

 

Our message is clear: The Kotel belongs not just to one individual, group, or denomination but to all Jews. The treatment of women as they engage in meaningful prayer and ritual undermines the Jewish and democratic values that are so essential to the state of Israel’s well-being. For up-to-date information, visit www.urj.org/israel/wow.

 

Educational materials in relation to this issue that you could use for an introduction to a meeting or Rosh Chodesh service, which provide the historical and modern context for the role of women as leaders in the quest for religious freedom and civil rights, are available at here. 

 

Anat Hoffman said recently, "We are pushing the envelope. History is made of moments like this." History is not made at moments of interrogation and disrespect. Join us and help ensure religious and civic equality in Israel.

January 13

Haiti Relief Fund

A severe earthquake devastated Haiti yesterday afternoon. Many thousands of people were killed and millions have been impacted.  Make a contribution to help in the recovery efforts through the Union for Reform Judaism Haiti Relief Fund.

 

You can do so online or by check (note: Haiti Relief in the memo section) to:

Union for Reform Judaism

Attention: Development

633 Third Avenue, 7th Floor

New York, NY 10017

 

Child Trafficking – Canadian Sisterhood Advocacy Needed

Following a forum on human trafficking, Alexis Rothschild, president of Temple Sholom, Women of Reform Judaism, Vancouver, Canada, sent an alert calling on sisterhood members to advocate Senate deliberation of Bill C-268, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (minimum sentence for offenses involving trafficking of persons under the age of eighteen years)," currently in the Canadian Parliament. This private member's bill, sponsored by Joy Smith, MP (Kildonan-St. Paul, Manitoba), was passed by the House of Commons on September 30th. It was subsequently introduced in the Senate and its consideration will resume on March 3, 2010. When the bill is approved by the Senate, it will be given Royal Assent and become law. Please click here for more information on the bill.

 

Canada is one of the few developed countries that does not have enhanced penalties for the trafficking of children. Canadian sisterhoods are urged to download and print the petition for your members to sign. The address to which it should be sent is at the bottom of the petition.  Take action to hold child traffickers accountable for their heinous crimes.

 

The Temple Committee Against Human Trafficking of Temple Emanu-EL-Beth Sholom, Montreal, Quebec, has been working on this issue for six years, with advocacy, conferences, and programs. Representatives of the committee gave the workshop "Pidyon Sh’evuyim: How Congregations Can Help Stop Human Trafficking and Sex Slavery," at the URJ biennial in Toronto.

 

January 8

Anat Hoffman Interrogated by the Jerusalem Police

This Tuesday, January 5th, Anat Hoffman, the executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center and leader of Israel’s Women of the Wall, was questioned for over an hour and fingerprinted by the police at the Kishle police station, near the Jaffa Gate. She was told that she was a suspect in a felony, not complying with a legal order, and disturbing the peace, in other words, for violating the rules of conduct at the Kotel. The interrogation largely focused on her participation in the recent Women of the Wall Rosh Chodesh prayer services.

 

For more information about the interrogation, read Rachel Canar’s phone interview with Anat Hoffman and an article by Jane Eisner from The Forward. Rabbi Robert Orkand, Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA) president, has also issued a powerful response to the incident.

 

A list of action items for sisterhoods in support of Anat Hoffman and Women of the Wall will be included in the coming Wednesday social justice e-mail.

January 6

WRJ Sisterhoods Stand in Solidarity With Women of the Wall

The December 30th social justice e-mail described two sisterhoods that convened events to participate in the Jewish women’s grassroots action in solidarity with Women of the Wall (WOW). Since then, several additional sisterhoods have informed us that they held programs which featured support for Women of the Wall and the right of women to pray and read Torah at the Kotel and to don tallitot for doing so.

 

Congregation Albert Sisterhood, Albuquerque, NM, adopted a motion of support for WOW as part of their annual shared meeting with a local Conservative sisterhood and participants were urged to kindle the seventh candle for the light of religious freedom and pluralism in Israel. The program also featured Shawn Price, a Jew by choice and member of the Navajo Tribe, and Navajo women dancers, honoring the spirit of women who fight as necessary. Mr. Price said "we honor those who battle on behalf of us"… just as we, sisterhood women, honor Women of the Wall.

 

Temple Beth-El Sisterhood, Hillsborough, NJ expressed solidarity with Women of the Wall, which added an extra dimension to their annual Chanukah/Woman of Valor Dinner.  Saying a prayer to remember the courage of the Maccabees who fought for religious freedom, they participated in the grassroots action in support of the Women of the Wall. They took a photo of their sisterhood members wearing tallitot, which they sent to WOW in Israel to show their support and solidarity.

 

WRJ of Congregation B'nai Israel of Boca Raton, FL held a Morning Educational Awareness Program to view the film, "Praying In Her Own Voice," which depicts the struggle in which the participants of Women of the Wall have engaged. Click on http://www.newlovefilms.com for information and purchase.

 

Sisterhood of Temple Sholom, Women of Reform Judaism, Vancouver, BC developed an event in support of Women of the Wall in their Rosh Chodesh Renewal program.  Information and pictures of the program were sent to WOW.